VICRail & telegraph
Sandringham
A fishing camp called Gipsy Village, renamed when the train arrived.
1887Railway extended from Brighton Beach
WHAT STARTED IT
A small fishing community lived around Picnic Point, on a stretch of bay coast out of sight of Brighton. Land sales there only took off once a railway extension from Brighton Beach was in prospect, putting the point within easy reach of Melbourne.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
A land speculator tried to sell allotments as ‘Gipsy Village’ in 1852, too early for buyers, and the place had only 183 residents in 1881. The railway opened in 1887, the post office took the name Sandringham that December, and a large hotel and horse tram to Beaumaris soon followed.
TURNING POINTS
1887The railway line from Brighton Beach to Sandringham is opened on 12 September.
1887The post office known as Gipsy Village is renamed Sandringham in December.
1889The 80-room Sandringham House hotel opens beside the horse tram route to Beaumaris.
1917Sandringham borough is created by severance from Moorabbin shire; it becomes a city in 1923.
1994Sandringham is merged into the new City of Bayside.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
An established bayside suburb in the City of Bayside, centred on the station and Picnic Point. Its beach, yacht club and boat harbour sit among houses priced well above the Melbourne median.